[scottishamber]

Hi There,
I'm kinda new to all this so please bear with me a little 
We have just got a new i30 1.6 CRDi auto (13 plate) when we put some fuel in the gauge tells you that you have 300 miles till empty, yet we only travel about 140 miles and have to fill up as it says we only have 32 miles left. The dealer reset the gauges and checked the fuel lines which were fine, but we keep "losing" fuel. Our last car was the same i30 CRDi auto (2010 model) we had amazing mileage out of her, we always got more out than we put in so to speak. This time round seems a lot more expensive some how. My Daughter lives just over 200 miles away and when we used to visit her we put £70 diesel into the old car and got there, around and back again. This car took the £70, got us there then promptly told us the tank was empty, by not registering any fuel left what so ever. We only got the car on 10th March and so far we have done 875 miles and it has cost us over £180 for fuel. Does this seem right for the new model?
Sorry if this seems a silly question, but to be honest I'm not very car savvy and a bit in the dark.

Thanks

Something doesn't add up with those figures.

[scottishamber]

I Know, that's the problem. We were told by the dealer to keep a diary of mileage, how much fuel we put in and how often we use the car. So far he is stumped too, he took the car for the day and even he said the fuel seems to disappear, they have done what Hyundai said and reset the cars gauges and also checked for leaks but couldn't find anything.

[AlanHo]

I would suggest you use the car until the low fuel warning light comes on - this will happen at some point when the fuel gauge is showing just one bar. On my current and previous i30 CRDi this indicates you have about 40 to 60 miles of fuel remaining (for auto car - manual is 50 to 80).   

When you refuel ensure that you write down the odometer reading and brim the tank - and I mean brim it until the fuel is visible and stationary in the filler neck. This will take several patient minutes because diesel foams and takes a while to settle. Don't be surprised to find that you add 55 to 60 litres. Also reset the average fuel trip to zero at the same time and do not reset it until you next refuel.

Now drive the car and when the low warning light comes on again carefully brim the tank. Take the odometer reading and note the amount of fuel added. You are now able to accurately calculate the average fuel consumption for the complete tank and compare it with the trip indicator which you can again reset for the next tank.

When I brim the tank I also zero the Trip A odometer and make a note of the distance to empty range after the car is brimmed. With my current car (manual gearbox) it tends to predict a range of approx. 450 miles when I drive away from the pump. After 100 miles on Trip A the distance to empty prediction will show roughly 390 miles - which means the total range prediction since brimming is now 100+390=490 miles. After 200 miles on trip A the distance to empty might show 320 miles - which means the total range prediction is now 200+320=520 miles and so on. The further you drive the higher the total range is predicted. Browse this forum and you will find quite a few posts about this behaviour.

[Phil №❶]

Welcome to this forum scottishamber,

Follow Alan's suggestion as this is the only true measure of how much fuel you are using. The only other points I can add are :

- Is the vehicle secure, could someone be stealing your fuel, not sure if the fuel flap is alarmed.
- Is the DPF system faulty and stuck on for some reason. You say the dealer has had the car so I assume they would check this.

As you say you're not car savvy, the DPF system is an anti pollution system whereby the car cleans it's own exhaust periodically by burning soot directly in the exhaust pipe. This is normally handled automatically and without any input from the driver, but does use some fuel to achieve this. Under these conditions, the car will use more fuel for a few minutes only.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Asterix]

Hi scottishamber

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new car.

As Phil said, follow Alan's suggestion, a full tank is the only way to find out.

[Dazzler]

Hi scottishamber,

Very strange indeed. If as Phil suggested the DPF is doing constant regenerations it would be getting extremely hot and you would be able to smell something when you pull up (IMHO) Is there a smell of something burning or a lot of heat emanating from under the car?

[Doggie 1]

Welcome to the forum, scottishamber.

[xreyuk]

Welcome to this forum scottishamber,

Follow Alan's suggestion as this is the only true measure of how much fuel you are using. The only other points I can add are :

- Is the vehicle secure, could someone be stealing your fuel, not sure if the fuel flap is alarmed.
- Is the DPF system faulty and stuck on for some reason. You say the dealer has had the car so I assume they would check this.

As you say you're not car savvy, the DPF system is an anti pollution system whereby the car cleans it's own exhaust periodically by burning soot directly in the exhaust pipe. This is normally handled automatically and without any input from the driver, but does use some fuel to achieve this. Under these conditions, the car will use more fuel for a few minutes only.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

I don't know what the dealers are like for Hyundai, but for most manufacturers here in the UK, you're more likely to find a real life Harry Potter than have a dealer understand anything about DPFs. It's usually the customer that knows more than the technician.

As above, I would make note of mileage and monitor actual consumption, but it does sound as though something is wrong.